Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1887-01-08

~ ublOUiHCu CiiO o'SHTf "h"o WY
Italians made them the basis of
thcirsproverb, :He has more bust.
ness than an English oven at
Christmas The tenantry were en-.
tertained at the Manorial Hall, and
the Lord and Mistress joined in
the customary round OF mirth:
ION Christmas eve the bqlls were rung;
On Christmas ovo the mass was sung;
That only night In all tho year.
Saw the stocd priest the challce rear.
Then opened wide tho Barons hall,
To vassal. tenant. serf and ALL
POWER laid .his rod of rule aside.
And ceremony dofreJ Ills PRIDE
The lielr with roses in his shoes.
That night might village pnrtner choose.
All hailed with uncontrolled delight
And general voice tho happy night.
That 10 the cottage, us tho crown
Brought tidings OF salvation down.
England was morry England, when
Old Christmas brought his sports again.
Twas Chrlstmas bronched his mightIost ale;
Twas Christmas told tho mcrricst tale;
a .Christmas Sambol Oft would cheer
A poor mans heart through half year
Tile fires of the hearth were made
to glow by pihng on great logs, the
principal of which was the yule log
which supposed to burn till Candle
mas eve. This stick, the largest
and of the hardest wood, received
it's name of yule or ferst log, from
the Saxon wood iule, by which
name the feast Of the Nativity was
called among them. Among the
colleges of England and the Inns of
Court, the first dish at the Christ :
mas feast was soused boar's head.
in honor of the Oxford student
who, while reading Aristotle in the
forest, was attacked by furious
wild boar, and to save himself.
choke0 the beast by rammlng the
volume down it's throat with the
exclamation sGraecum est ut is
Greek
The beautiful and tasteful ems
tom of decorating houses and
churches with eyergreens for the
hSpIi,daYs. has {; come down to Us from
lievcd that patron spirits of the
dark groves in which they worbip
ped, gathered to the evergreen
boughs they set up Oh festival oc :
casiOns, and there remained as
protecting genii against nipping
irosts until the return Of the mild
er season. In carrying out this
pretty conceit, the holly, ivy, rose
mary, bay and mistletoe, were
used for wreathes and trimmings.
The superstition, scarcely yet
abandoned among the more ignor-
ant classes Of England, that the
exen were to be seen on their knees
in attitude Of prayer on the night
before Christmas, was but another
phase Of the prevalent medieval
notion that an OK and ass were &C.
cupants of the stable in which our
Saviour was born, and that they
assumed a suppliant posture dur
ing the period OF ACCOMPLISHMENT.
Shakespeare has converted into
poetry the once popular fancy,
that all evil spirits forsake the
world and go unto their own abode
during the hours Of Christmas
night:
ever 'gainst that season comes within our
sayivur's birth is celebrated
This bird of dawning siugeth all night long;
Aud then they say no spirit stlrs abroad;
Tie nights are wholesome; no planet s,rlkcs;
No fairy takes. nor witch hath power to charm,
SO hallowed and so gracious IL the tlmo."
But it were IDLE to pursue further
the conceits that fnd a spring III
Christmas.
Many are extravaganza, yet thor
oughly Indicative Of the times in
which they find an. origin. Far
more are as pretty as the tenderest
imagination could unfold. Some
are grand as tho occasion which
gave them birth. All are sugges-
tive, and the vividness of their i'm
press is manifest in the tenacity
with which we of a newer and high
er civilization cling to them, and
The WILLINGNESS with which we nor.
petuatc them.
The Puritans of New England
and the Quakers of Pennsylvania
were stern opposers Of Christmas
solemnities. Their simple creeds
admitted of no ostentations in
keeping with the occasion, and
their pious souls revolted at the
idea Ofmerry making over an event
SO solemn and impressive as the
birth Off Saviour. But these
severely pietistic notions have been
relaxed to great extent, and hu
mainly has been allowed to speak
its soul in a voice of its own choos
ing. The day has been made
statutory holiday by the States,
and may be called such by custom
throughout the United States
The religious services Of the day in
many churches are the most solemn
Of the year. 1t is day so full Of
sacred memories, warm affections,
pleasing episodes and noble char.
tiles, that none will wish its OBJ
servance to cease.-From The Sun
beam.